KINGSTONE PRESS LEAGUE 1 SHIELD : NORTH WALES CRUSADERS 30 SOUTH WALES SCORPIONS 26

By Karl Jones at Chester RU

South Wales Scorpions were unable to maintain their excellent start which led to North Wales Crusaders snatching the second Welsh derby of the season.

Ryan Smith’s try five minutes from time completed the home side’s comeback after being behind for most of the contest.

After both teams exchanged sets, an Andy Mousdale kick on the last tackle saw Alex Thompson pounce to score on three minutes.

Osian Phillips almost found his way through, but Alex Davidson’s pass out of contact was deemed forward. Moments later, North Wales kept the ball alive until Simon Atherton’s kick dead wasted a three-on-two opportunity.

The Scorpions hit back after a set move saw Courtney Davies link with Phillips before sending Sion Jones through the line and the youngster forced his way over full-back Tommy Johnson.

Two attacking kicks almost saw the visitors extend the lead; Paul Emanuelli’s grubber was touched dead in-goal, then Davies’ chip for Kyle Scrivens resulted in a spill as Rob Massam competed for the ball, but its bounce evaded Jordan Sheridan.

More enterprising play eventually saw the Scorpions extend their lead on the half-hour mark – Alex Davidson offloading out of a tackle to Connor Farrer who wriggled over from close range.

However the lead was immediately pegged back; after Jamie I’anson knocked on from the restart, Crusaders worked the ball left for Massam to squeeze in at the corner.

Following further slowing down of the ruck – an offence which confounded the home side’s first half – Emanuelli added a penalty just before half-time to make it 14-8.

Farrer got his second try in similar fashion on 43 minutes, this time receiving an offload from Chris Vitalini to dive over next to the posts.

South Wales’ eagerness to keep the ball alive would then cost them; after a loose offload Tommy Johnson was able to gather possession, evade a number of defenders before feeding Andrew Oakden to score. Johnson hit the post with the conversion attempt which kept the margin at two scores.

A second Emanuelli penalty goal would extend the lead, before Courtney Davies’ break and wide pass fed Jamie Stringer to score in the corner – giving the Scorpions a 26-8 lead as the hour mark approached.

Jack Hansen reduced the deficit after a string of penalties saw Crusaders close in on the try line. Continued pressure provided a mismatch that the half-back capitalised on by touching down under the posts. Crusaders pulled the game back into reach when Simon Atherton barged his way over from close range – Johnson converting to make the score 26-24 to the visitors with just 12 minutes remaining.

And their momentum continued shortly after, but as Jonny Walker and Atherton offloaded out of contact, Lee Hudson was unable to collect with the try line begging. A similar move was ultimately to be the Scorpions’ downfall as Jordan Andrade’s offload saw Smith race past the last man and settle an exciting contest.